Photo 2: Freedom in Festival

Photo by Jay Ricketts, at the Festa Major de Gracia Barcelona, August 2016

This was the opening night at the street festival of the village of Gracia, Barcelona’s biggest annual street festival. The community comes together to decorate the streets from building to building with different themes, from antinuclear development, to support for refugees; the atmosphere is filled with a sense of community, love and unity for a full week. This photo captures what I first saw as I emerged from the metro station. The ‘Firework Run’ as its known features parades of fireworks being taken down the main street, filling onlookers with a sense of thrill and adrenaline as you avoid being burnt. This image stands out to me as it captures my memory and associated feelings in one photo. The animal is centred in the photo, while there is a stark contrast in the dusk lighting of the setting against the fierce flames of the fireworks, reflecting the sense of celebration, excitement and juvenescence which was captured by this opening night of the festival.